Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1887-04-29
THE SNAKE KING.
BY. WALLACE p. REED.

From the Constitution
1t was a sultry August morning, and
John Maston was up early. He had
q long ride before him to Pyramid,
and his young wife urged him to start
with the rising sun, and return late in
the afternoon, in order to avoid the
midday heat. E =
The Matson plantation stretched
Tor miles along the Alabama river.
The nearest white neighbor was ten
miles off, and it took three hours to
reach the village OF Pyramid.
Matson and his wife stood on the
BROAD piazza. looking down the slop-
ing lawn to heroad, where Black Tom
was waiting with the horse and buggy.
Far away to the right wreaths ofdense
log indicted the winding course of the
river. Not breath of air stirred the
semi-tropical foliage OF the trees, and
The atmosphere was laden with the
perfume OF thousands OF flowers and
aromatic plants. -.
"What does this mean?" said Mat
son, as several negroes turned in from
the road, and approached the house,
bearing in their strong arms a limp
and motionless figure.
ooh, John, it is dead MANI ex-
claimed little Mrs. Matson.
The planter ran down to meet the
men. They were all field hands, and
he knew every black lace in the group.
"Hello, Sam. what is the matter?
What is up he asked the leader.
"Ter tell dc troof, Marse Boss"
replied Sam, nervously scratching his
head, "Pse so plumb done put out
bout dis ting dat | dunno muffin.
Dis yer white man must be slcker-
dead, dunno which. We found him
down by de landin', an we jist brung
him erlong."
lis he dead" gasped Mrs. Matson.
"No, but he is unconscious said
her husband. who had been examin-
ing the stranger. "Ne must take care
Of him, OF course. | hate to 90 off to
town now, but I can't help it. FL
wait half an hour or 90 and see what
turns up"
The man was carried to a large and
comfortable room and carefully put
to bed by Sam and another negro.
Then Mr.. Matson felt his pulse and
took good look at him.
The strengthening, sallow face, lean
to the point of emaciation, with the
tangled black hair around it, had a
weird look with it's background Of
. white pillows. A small dose of brandy
was forced through the tightly closed
mouth, and the man suddenly opened
his eyes. They were such shining
black orbs that Sam fell back NUT ter
ing gro, - ,,,a,,,
Half an hour later Matson went to
his wife and said:
"Well, I must go. Aunt Lucy is
looking after our patient, and yon will
do the best you can. The case does
not require doctor. Some beef tea
to-day and something solid to-mor-
row will bring the fellow up. He is
nearly dead from exposure and star.
vation."
"But who--?"
ooh, yes," answered Matson, "you
want to know who he is, where he is
lrom.. and why he is in this fix. It is
no time to question him now. He
looks like foreigner, Cuban or per-
haps q Gypsy. He speaks little En-.
glish. and that is all know. Youneed
not be afraid of him. He is as feeble
as an infant, and little withered old
chap with the queerest little head in
the world. 1t is long and marrow, and
looks more like q snakes head than
anything else" ~ ....
ooh, John, you ftighten mel"
"But it does" remarked John
laughing, "and now that think OF
his snnky eyes and his sinuous motion,
it strikes me that snaky is the best
description that could be given OF him.
Ugh! It makes my flesh crawl to look
at him. But that is neither here nor
there. When I get back I'll attend to
him. @.,9... .......-,:.,,
And giving his wife kiss, Maston
ran down to the buggy, jumped in and 81
dashed off on his way to- Pyramid.
Lett alone, SO lar as white faces
were concerned, with q mysterious
stranger in the. house, Mrs. Matson
telt peculiar nervousness which she
could not shake off. For awhile she
busted herself experimenting house.
hold affairs, but finally she could not
resist the temptation to pass the door
Of the sick mans room and look III.
There he was, swarthy and wrinkled,
and looking more like snake than
ever. The serpentine head raised it.
self with an arching motion. and the
little black eyes sparkled like BEADS
as poor Mrs. Matson glanced into the
room. AS for Aunt Lucy, she follow
ed her mistress into the hall Ri
ode Lawd hab mussy,'' she said.
"but Marse John otter stay ct home
stidder trapsin', off ter town. Lat
man in dar skeer me ter def. '' !. d
The lady Of the house said something
reassuring, and went into the parlor,
where she vainly tried to amuse her
self In various ways. u rs 3tfs. 45s
ss"How time dragsp she exclaimed,
as she went to a window and locked
out in thedirection OF the river.
Did she see snake basking in the
sunshine directly under the wind owl
She looked intently for. 8 moment. ~
was Q thick, ngly looking ms ccasan,
fully five feet long. While she was gaz-
ing the vicious intruder raised HES
head, and returned her stare with .l 2
look OF intelligence. & ri
Itwas a moccasin locality and Mrs,
Matson did not care snap ct her 1 ]. mn !,
ger for a few snakes around her ffont
door. She was accusto taled 70 ma
them in her flower beds, Ind some
times they made their We. INTO & .sn ,se